Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of the Valdai discussion club, said that the Investigative Committee did not detect any external influence on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane, which crashed at the end of August. His words are quoted by the TASS agency.
At the same time, according to Putin, fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of the victims.
“Unfortunately, no examination was carried out for the presence of alcohol or drugs in the blood of the victims, although we know that after the well-known events at the company in St. Petersburg, the FSB discovered not only 10 billion in cash, but also 5 kg of cocaine.” “, the president added.
The Legacy 600 business jet of the Brazilian company Embraer, owned by Prigozhin, crashed on the evening of August 23 near Tver. Prigozhin, Wagner PMC commander Dmitry Utkin and eight other passengers and crew members were killed.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the investigation is considering the version according to which the plane crash was a “deliberate crime.” At the same time, Russia did not allow representatives of Embraer and the Brazilian authorities to participate in the investigation.
As Reuters notes, Prigozhin’s business jet model had a good safety record. Embraer representatives said that due to US sanctions, in 2019 they stopped servicing the jet of the head of Wagner PMC, purchased in October 2018.